Cold-soll-feedee mechanism



I cow n'ou FEEDER MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED'AUG. l3. l9l4. REN EWED NOV. 2|. I918.

Patented May 20, 1919.

Z w W v v m a '8 SHEETSSHEET I.

T. B. HUGHES, w.1. DAVlS-AND 0. 0. HUGHES.

cow ROLL FEEDER MECHANISM.

H APPLICATION FILED AUG 13. {914. RENEWED NOV. 2|. 1918. 1,304,050.

Patented May 20, 1919.

M. MW

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

T. B. HUGHES,v W. JQDAVIS AND D. D. HUGHES.

COLD ROLL FEEDER MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 13. 191-4. RENEWED NOV. 2|. 191s.

Patented May 20, 1919.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 3- M x km T. B. HUGHES W. l. DAVIS AND D. D. HUGHES.

CO'LD ROLL FEEDER MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED AUG I3, x91 RENEWED NOV. 2. 1918.

1,304,050. Patented May 20, 1919.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4- 9496M Q) Wit "woes 21 000%. 0 Ma Q 3514 14 1 T- B. HUGHES, W. J. DAVIS AND D. D. HUGHES. COLD ROLL FEEDER MECHANISM. APPLICATION FIL-ED AUG. 13.11914. RENEWED NOV. 21. ms

1,304,050, 1 Patented May 20, I919.v

6SHEETS-SHEET 5.

Wk), mm;

T. B. HUGHES, W. J. DAVIS AND D. D. HUGHES.

COLD ROLL FEEDER MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILEDHAUG 13.1914. RENEWED NOV. 2!. ms.

Patented May 20, 1919.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

THOMAS B. HUGHES, WILIIAM J. DAVIS, AND DAVID D. HUGHES, 0F GRANITE CITY,

. ILLINOIS.

COLD-ROLL-FEEDER MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 20, 19159.

Application filed August 13, 1914, Serial No. 856,695. Renewed November 21, 1918. Serial No. 263,633.

to be operated upon may be fed to a cold roll or other working mechanism Without manual handling.

A further object is to so construct the parts of the mechanism that the plates will be taken one at a time from a plurality of.

plates and will be carried to the receiving mechanism of a working machine.

Yet another object is to provide means by which the plates to be fed by this mechanism are held and which are constantly maintained in a position to accomplish the most eliicient feeding action.

A still further object is to construct the mechanism in such a maner and to so connect the parts thereof that the operation is entirely mechanical and may be maintained continuously, but is yet at all times within the control of the operator and may be given various settings to accommodate various opcrating conditions.

iVith other objects in view, which will be referred to, our invention consists in the peculiar combination and novel arrangement of parts, such as will be hereinafter more fully described in connection with the accompanying drawings and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a view in side elevation of the mechanism of our invention taken from one side thereof.

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but from a point to disclose the opposite side of the machine.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical sectional \lOW through the disclosure in Fig. 1.

Fig. tillustrates in top pian the mechanism in the arrangement illustrated in Fig. 5 is a view in top plan of the base member of the mechanism with parts of the structure removed more clearly to illustrate looking in 'the direction'indicated by the arrow. 7

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary detail in side ole:

vation of certain of the operating mechanism to maintain the plate carrier inthe proper position to attaln the most eiiicient operation.

Fig. 9 is a View in top elevation of the mechanism disclosed on the of the showing in Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary detail view in perspective of certain of'the operating parts.

The mechanismcoinprises the base member l which preferably comprises the two sides and the top 2 secured together to form a hollow structure, and the tracks 3, 3 are left-hand end mounted on this top member 2 to extend parallel with the side members of the base structure. A car 4 has the floor 5 thereof made comparatively low and the supporting wheels 6 of the cars;v are mounted on the front and rear axles '7 and 8, respectively, and are fitted to the, track 3 so that the car may be mounted andguided on these tracks in its course of traye'l along the extent of the base member 1. 1'-' The frame members 9 and 10 comprising uprights and cross-bars-are mounted on the top 2 of the base member 1 to extend parallel with the disposition of the track 3 and are spaced suiiiciently far apart that the car 4 is permitted to have movement therebetween in The shafts 11, 12, 13 and 14c are journaled on the uprights and connecting bars of the frame members to extend transversely therebetween and to he each in a plane above the floor 5 of the car 4. These several transversely mounted shafts have the rolls 15 and 16 carried thereby at points spaced apart near each end and the belts or conveying webs l7 and 18 are mounted to travel over these rolls l5 and 16, respectively, and to have movement in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 3. A drive shaft 19 is mounted to extend transversely of the base carried by therewith and a sprocket chain 23 is con-- nected over the sprocket wheel and over the sprocket gear 24 which is mounted on the shaft 11 and thus the movement given by the power means to the drive shaft 19 is. transmitted to this shaft 11 and the conveying webs 17 and 18 are carried in the direction indicated over the several rolls 15 and 16 disposed on the transversely mounted shaft.

An operating shaft 25 is mounted between the frame members 9 and 10 to be capable of rotary movement and to extend in the same general direction as the several shafts. hereinbeforepositioned, and this shaft 25 has a stepped pulley 26 mounted on the one end thereof and a belt 27 is passed over this stepped pulley 26 and over a stepped pulley 28 which is secured on one end of the shaft 13 to transmit movement therefrom to the shaft 25 as driving motion is transmitted from the power connection to the shaft 11 and the web conveyer belts 17 and 18 are actuated, and these stepped pulleys 26 and 28 are arranged to have the steps tapered in opposite directions so that the speed of rotation of the shaft 25 may be either in creased or decreased with respect to the speed of travel of the shaft 13 to meet various conditions of operation. A magnet 29 of the electro-magnetic coil type is secured on a slide rod 30 and this slide rod is mounted in a bearing 31 provided on a cross member 32 secured between the frame members 9 and 10. A rocking lever 33 is pivotally mounted on the frame member 9 and the one free end thereof is connected by a link 34 with the slide rod 30 by which the magnet 29 is carried, an eccentric 35 being secured on the shaft 25 and connected by a link 36 with the opposite free end of the rocking lever 33 sothat upon rotation of this shaft 25 and consequent actuation of the eccentric to move the link 36 in a reciprocatory path, a rocking movement is transmitted to these pivotally mounted levers 33 and through the connection of the lever 34 with the slide rod 30, "the reciprocatory movement is transmitted to the electro-magnet 29. The bearing 31 is so placed and the slide rod 30 so mounted therein that this reciprocatory movement of the magnet 29 is at a point between the conveyer webs 1? and 18 and it is the intention hat the tin plates shall be placed as indica at 3'? upon the floor 5 of the car 4 and at the forward movement of the 111 shall bring this magnet into contact wi the car and then upon the Warward movement of the magnet in its recipment of the magnet is permitted, and a con troller 40 is connected in this circuit to the magnet at a point that the controller handle 41 is readily accessible to the operator and thus the parts are so constructed that variations may be made in the power of attraction of the magnet to accommodate the mechanism to operate upon various qualities of metal and also for various thickness and weight of plates.

To maintain the car t always at a osition at which the magnet 29 will, on its forward stroke, contact with and take from the car one of the plates, it is essential that some means he provided to move the car along the track 3 a. predetermined distance with each complete reciprocatory movement of the magnet 29 and consequently this movement must be judged by the rotation of the shaft 25. To accomplish the object as above set forth, We provide the sprocket wheels 12 and 43 which are mounted on the shafts M and 45, respectively, to have the sprocket chain 46 work on the sprockets thereof. The sprocket chain 46 has a plurality of spaced lugs 4-7 mounted to project from the outer face thereof and when the parts are in the position indicated in the several views, and motion is transmitted to this sprocket chain 46, one. of these projecting lugs will engage with the aXle 7 upon which the forward wheel 6 of the car 4 are mounted,-however, it is desired that only a step-hy-step movement lee-transmitted to this sprocket chain and that in this way the car he moved for-1 ward a distance equal to "the thickness of one of the plates upon each reciprocatory movement of the magnet.

.A ratchet. wheel 48 is mounted upon the shaft 49 to have revoluble movement and an arm 50 is pivoted on the shaft 49' to be capable of swinging movement with respect to the ratchet wheel 48 and is provided with a ratchet dog 51 positioned thereon to engage with the teeth of the ratchet wheel. A

bevel gear 52 is secured on the shaft %9 to be shaft 49 and a bevel gear 54 is secured thereon to mesh with the bevel gear 52. The shaft 5-3 is carried to a position adjacent the mounting of the shaft 44 and a worm secured on the shaft 53 meshes with a worm' wheel 56 secured on the shaft 44 thus insuring that the turning movement of the ratchetwheel 48 will be transmitted to the shaft 44 to cause a carrying movement of the sprocket chain-46. An eccentric 57, as better disclosed in Fig. l, is secured on one end of the shaft 25 and a connecting link 58 is mounted on the eccentric and is extended to connect with the pivoted operating lever 50, this operating lever 50 being provided with a plurality of openings 59 to permit an adjustment of the connection of the link 58 therewith and to consequently regulate the extent of the swinging movement transmitted to the lever to vary the distance which the ratchet wheel 48 will be carried forward by the engagement of the dog 51 therewith. j

In some instances it will be found desirable to connect the belt 21 to receive its driving power from the rolling or other working machine and in this connection, also in other instances of adaptation of this invention it may be found desirable to stop the operation of the mechanism of this invention and .to yet permit an operation of theparts by which the belt 21 is given movement, and for this purpose mechanism is provided to permit a shifting of the sprocket chain 46 and the parts by which this sprocket chain is carried to a position that'the projection 47 will be sufficiently beneath the axle 7 that engagement of the projection therewith is precluded. The bearings in which the shafts and 45 are journaled, as better illustrated in Fig. 8, are elongated in a vertical direction to permit a vertical Shift? ing of the shafts and as the sprocket wheels 42 and 43 are secured on these shafts, the shifting of the shafts 44 and 45 in a downward direction will cause the sprocket chain 46 to be dropped to a position that these projections 47 thereof are out of operative relation, and further as the teeth of the worm gear 56 are disengaged from the worm threads of the worm 55, rotary motion of the shaft and consequent movement of the chain 46 is stopped. The shafts 61 and 62 are mounted in the base member 1 at points preferably vertically beneath the mounting of the shafts 44 and 45 andthese shafts 61 and 62 have the arms 63 and 64 formed to project therefrom. The links 65 and 66 are pivot-ally mounted on the shafts 44 and 45 and a pivotal connection is formed at 67 between the links 65 and the arm 63 and at 68 between the arm 64 and the link 66, thus as turning movement is transmitted to the shafts 61 and 62, the pivotal or knuckle connection between. the Ir-r and the links causes the shafts 44 and 45 to be moved in an upward direction through the bearings 60 and the parts will then be brought to the position indicated in the several views of the drawings where the lug 47 will engage with the front axle 7 of the carriage and this carriage or car 4 will be moved to accommod'arte the operating conditions. The shaft 62 has a hand lever 69 connected therewith to permit manual, turning of this shaft in an operative direction and lin'lm 70 are connected between-the free ends of the arms 63 so that movement transmitted to the shaft 62 by the hand lever 69 is carried to the shaft 61 and the same relative movement is given to both the shaft 44 and the shaft 45.

A safety lever 71 is pivoted near its center on a bracket 72 carried by the frame member 10, this safety lever being provided at its upper end with the arm 73 and at its lower free end connected with the link70 so that movement of the hand lever 69 causes a swinging and adjusting of this safety lever 71 toward the car 4.

The handle 69 may b heldby its own weight or by other well known means, so as to hold the parts that are supported by the shafts 61 and 62 in their raised or operative position. The lever 71, nected to the link 7 O, is also held in operative position by the lever 65; s0 that the arm or packer 73 serves as a'sfop for the bottom edges of the sheets or plates.

The operation of the mechanism is as follows, the parts by which the sprocket chain 46 are carried are lowered to a point that the projections 47 are in a lower plane than the axle 7 and the car may then be moved to a position entirely beyoi hd the area embraced by the frame member 19 and 16. With the parts in this relation, tie plates will then be loaded on through the ear to stand with their edges on the floor 5 as is illustrated in the several figures-of the'fdrawings, driving motion is given to the drive pulley 20 through the belt 21 and thiscauses an actuation of the several parts of the mechanism, the car 4 is then moved inwardly shown) independent of the chain 46 and the hand lever 69 is shifted to bring the sprocket chain 46 to a position that one of the projections 47 thereof ,will move into engagement with the front axle 7 of thear 4 and through the turning movement, transmitted by the ratchet wheel 48, a forward propulsion of the car 4 will be accomplished. The shifting of the lever 69 causes the packer 73 to pack the bottom edges of the sheets together, for causing them to stand approximately erect on said edge, thereby preventing them from sliding under the magnet and conveyer webs or belts l7 and 18. This also positions the sheets so that their respective armatures or areas of magnetic contact are approximately parallel with the vertical; conbeing pivotally conby means (not tact surface of the magnet. 'When the car has received a suilicient forward movement that the magnet 29 engages with the last plate placed thereon, this plate will be attracted to the magnet and will be carried laterally of all of its edges to and deposited on the webs 17 and 18 as hereinbefore set forth then the movement of these conveyer webs will cause the plates to be carried as is indicated by the arrow in Fig. 3, and from the upper horizontal extent of the conveyor webs 17 and 18 the plates may be fed to any working mechanism as a rolling machine. The same operation which has caused the magnet 29 to be moved in a rearward direction is also transmitted to the eccentric 57 and through the arm 58 to the pivoted lever which through the engagement of the dog 51 with the ratchet teeth of the ratchet wheel 48 causes a. turning movement to be transmitted to the connecting mechanism to the worm gear 'oo carried by the shaft at and in consequence a forward movement is transmitted to the sprocket chain l6 to cause the car a to be moved forward the distance equal to the thickness of the plate which has been taken therefrom by the magnet, and, upon the next forward reciprocatory movement of the magnet, the next plate in line is ngaged thereby and is held by the magnetic attraction and is carried as before described and deposited upon the conveyor webs 17 and 18 from which it is fed to the working mechanism. p v

The movements of each sheet, from the car to and along the conreyer or webs l7 and 18, is as follows: After a sheet has been taken from the stack or pack, a slight space is left between the next adjacent sheet and the packer 73, as shown in Fig. 1; and when the car moves the next step, the lower edge of the next sheet to be conveyed is stopped by the packer 73, so that when the sheet is engaged by the magnet, its upper edge swings sidewise of the sheet until the conveyer engages tne sheet, carries it edgewise and oh; vates it to the horizontal part of the conveyor, which latter continues to carry the sheet cdgei but in a. horizontal direction. If the sheets sho'uid be moved in the pack, so as to close the gap at the end of the packer the would automation ly pack t during "the next step of the car in i s operati n.

' -wertictd fiance across face of the t is reiatively small. as compared wi' i the horizontal distance toereof, so that the contact of the sheet with the lower edge o' the r gnet is easily broi while its upper edge eres to the sheet 1 5! the latter has been :ccd, by the conveyor, out of eng ge the n c from one step i of the p lays 26 and 28,

of the magnet-carryaeoaoao Fig. 2, that are slidable along the guide rods and maintain a continually closed circuit.

From the foregoing it will be seen that we have provided a. mechanism by which tin plates or plates of any other electro-magnetically attracted metal may be fed to a working mechanism without manual handling, and further that the plates are taken one by one from a common carrier and each is operated upon separately and is fed at just the proper points, further it is evident that the machine is automatic in its opera- 7 tion, each part being accomplished by a mechanical movement and the several parts thereof may be regulated and adjusted to accommodate varying opera-ting conditions.

While we have herein shown and described one specific form of our invention, it will be understood that slight changes might be made in the form and arrangement of the several parts of the mechanism without departing from the spirit and scope of our invention, and hence we do not wish to be limited thereto except for such limitations as the claims may import.

We claim 1. A feeder mechanism comprising a car adapted to receive and hold a plurality of plates, means to take the plates singly from the car, a sprocket chain to be capable of movement adjacent one of the EtXlQS of said car, projections provided from said sprocket chain to engage with said axle, and means to be operated during the operation of the means to take the plates from the car to cause movement of the sprocket chain to carry the car forward step by step,

2. A feeder mechanism comprising a base member, a supporting frame mounted on the base member, a conveyor Ck ried by the supporting frame, car ada to receive and hold a plurality of plates, a track sup ported by the base member on which the car is mounted, means to transmit i operative motion to said conveyor, means plates fromthe car and deposit on the'conveyer, means connec operating shaft to the means is plates are taken to cause an of, and means to be also operated by the turning of this shaft to cause forward propulsion of the car as each p ate is taken.

r y which the 3. A feeder mechanism com sing a base take the to engage with a portion of said car, and

means connected to be actuated by the op eration of the conveyen to cause a forward propulsion of the car in a step-by-step path as each plate is taken from this car.

4. A feeder mechanism comprising a base member, a supporting frame mounted on said base member, a car adapted toreceive and hold a plurality of plates, a track mounted on said base member, wheels carried by the car to travel on said track, a conveyor carried by the supporting frame by Which the plates are transferred to the desired point, sprocket, wheels carried bythe base member, a sprocket chain mounted on said sprocket wheels, a plurality of projections carried by said sprocket chain to engage with one of the wheel axles of said car, and means to be given a step-by-step mlovement as the conveyer is actuated to cause an operation of the parts connected with said sprocket chain to transmit a for- .Ward movement to the car as each plate is taken therefrom.

5. A feeder mechanism comprising a base member, a supporting frame mounted on said base member, a belt conveyer mounted on the supporting frame, a car adapted to receive and hold a plurality of plates, a

track mounted on the base member, wheelsconnectedwith said car by which the car is mounted on said track, a magnet mounted on the supporting frame to be capable of reciprocatory movement, sprocket Wheels carried by the base member, a sprocket chain connected over said sprocket wheels, a plurality of projections provided on said sprocket chain to-engage with one of the axles of said car, means to transmit motion to said sprocket wheels intermittently, an

operating shaft connected to be rotated as the conveyer is actuated, an eccentric mounted on said operating shaft and connected with the magnet to cause a reciprocation thereof, and a second eccentric mounted on the operating shaft to cause an actuation of the means by which movement is transmitted to the sprocket chains.

6. A feeder mechanism comprising a receive and hold a -track mounted on sprocket chains' are member, a supporting frame mounted on said base member, a belt conveyer mounted on the supporting frame, a car adapted to plurality of plates, a the base member, wheels connected with said car by which the/car is mounted on said track, a magnet mounted on the supporting frame to be capable of reciprocatory movement, sprocket Wheels carried by the base member, a sprocket chain connected over said sprocket wheels, a plurality of projections provided on said sprocket chain to engage with one of the.

axles of said car, means to transmit motion to said sprocket wheels intermittently, an operating shaft connected to be rotated as the conveyer is actuated, an eccentric mounted on said operating shaft and connected.

with the magnet to cause a'reciprocation thereof, a second eccentric mounted on the operating shaft to cause an actuation of the means by which movement is transmitted to the sprocket chain, and means by which said sprocket wheels may be moved to a point thatgthe projections carried on the spaced from the axles of the car.

7. A plate handling machine comprising means for supporting a, stack of plates each standing on oneof its edges, and cooperative means for first moving one of said plates laterally of all its edges and then turning it and conveying it along the plane of all its edges.

8. A plate handling machine comprising a plate-carrier, and mutually cooperative means for first moving the carrier a step and then pulling a plate from the carrier and moving the plate laterallyof all its edges and then turning the plate and moving it along the plane of all its edges.

9. A plate handling machine comprising in mutually cooperative relation, a puller, primary means for moving a plurality of plates laterally of all their edges into range of said puller, secondary means forcausing the puller to pull the plates one-by-one from said plurality, and means for adjusting the machine to vary the rate of movement of said primary means relative to said second"- ary means.

In testimony whereof We afiix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS B. HUGHES. WILLIAM J. DAVIS. DAVID D. HUGHES.

Witnesses Gno. Funmsn, Connnnros Wnrznn. 

